


The Overlooked

by GamerAlexis



Series: Vault Family [3]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Asexual Character, Canon Compliant, Moral Dilemmas, Side Quests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 17:03:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18428351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GamerAlexis/pseuds/GamerAlexis
Summary: Maya and Axton end up going to save the people of Overlook while the rest of the vault hunters start a gang war in the Dust.It's a long few days on a cliff side town and, being alone with Maya for the first time, left Axton with some less than virtuous thoughts.AKA, the fic where Axton learns that Maya is asexual.  Please read the notes before continuing to read this.





	The Overlooked

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been a tricky one for me to write. This is part of Finding Home that is important and a story that I felt needed telling. However, it does deal with some questionable situations and actions and behaviors. I've had this sitting on my computer for months, debating on sharing it, and ultimately, I decided to share it.
> 
> A key point to this is Axton not listening when Maya says "no" to sex.  There is no rape, no explicit content, but Axton does push himself onto Maya without her consent (he kisses her) and she phaselocks him away and nothing else happens between them.  I didn't want to tag it as rape since it doesn't happen, but the situation is tense and could be triggering.  I'll make a note when the scene begins and ends if you want to skip it.
> 
> Axton is an upstanding guy; in Finding Home, he refuses Timothy because they're both drunk.  He makes a mistake here - a BIG mistake to be sure, but it's a mistake and most of this fic is him coming to terms with that mistake and how he can make it right.
> 
> Let me make this clear: Consent is VITAL.  Please, for the love of god, don't do this.  If someone says no, listen.  Respect other peoples boundaries.  However, I also believe that mistakes happen and I believe in forgiveness.  You are more than capable of changing to a better person and so is Axton in this fic.

Being back in Overlook made Axton nervous.  The last time he was here, he had sacrificed himself for the betterment of his team and gotten his ass handed to him.  This time, however, Axton was walking into Overlook with Maya and a mission.

Roland had asked them to check on Overlook, something about skull shivers and making sure no one was dead.  Gaige had complained that it sounded far too boring and wanted to go start a clan war in the Dust.  Salvador and Krieg agreed with her wholeheartedly and Maya insisted that Zer0 go along to keep a careful eye on them.

That left Axton and Maya to check on Overlook.

“Weird to be back, isn’t it?” Maya said, looking over the town.

“Yeah, guess so,” Axton shrugged.

It was nearing sunset and Overlook was bathed in orange light.  Axton was still blinking blue pixels out of his eyesight.  He shook his head and glanced over at Maya.

“I guess I’ll find us a place to stay for the night and we’ll help these people in the morning, sounds good?” Maya turned and grinned at Axton.

“Uh,” Axton said eloquently.  Had her eyes always been that alluring?  And her lips that plump?  The way her blue tattoos glowed on her porcelain skin was distracting and mysterious and Axton had a hard time looking away.

Axton shook his head and Maya sauntered away.  God _damn_ Axton should get a fucking medal for not staring at her ass as she walked away.  Axton checked the sights on his rifle and, shit, he snuck a peek.

He was only human and _damn_.  If nothing else, Krieg sure had good taste in women.

Axton was interrupted from his lusty thoughts by his ECHO device ringing.  He pulled it out and couldn’t help the grin at Gaige’s face appearing on the screen.

“Hey, kiddo,” Axton said.

“We’re going to start a fucking war!” Gaige screeched by way of greeting.

“Language, miss,” Axton chided.  “How long are you going to be out?”

“I dunno,” Gaige shrugged.  “Ellie said she wants to restart the war between the Zafords and the Hodunks but once the war is on it’s pretty much on them how far it goes.”

“Well, stay out of trouble,” Axton said.  “You know, as much as you can.”

“Same goes for you!” Gaige said.  “I know you, big guy.  As soon as someone shows you a bit of a cash or a pretty face, you lose your head.”

“I have never!”

“In fact, I’m surprised you keep your eyes inside your head whenever Maya’s around.”

“Okay, whatever,” Axton rolled his eyes and couldn’t help but glance over to where Maya had walked away.

Even over the blue fuzzy screen, Gaige’s eyes were unmistakably mischievous.  “Oh!  I see now.  Just you and Maya, alone on a cliffside town, _at sunset_.  How romantic, Axton!  Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“That’s not – that wasn’t – ”

“Don’t worry, Ax, your secret is safe with me.”

“I got us a place for the night,” Maya called from across the courtyard and Axton couldn’t help but grin.

“Well, I guess I should let you go, lover boy,” Gaige grinned.  “Don’t fuck this up like you did with Sarah.”

“Ooh, low blow, kid,” Axton said.  “Go to bed, stay safe and don’t let Krieg eat anything weird.”

“Too late for that!” came Salvador’s muffled voice.

“Good night, Axton, love you!” Gaige said and clicked off the ECHO.

Axton’s ECHO recorder slipped from his fingers and clattered on the ground.

“Love you too, kiddo,” Axton muttered.

Before he could lean over and pick it up, Maya was there.

Axton slowly dragged his eyes up her legs, covered by skin-tight pants, before resting at her exposed hip.  He couldn’t help but feel his face heat up as he looked over the blue tattoos on her hipbone.

“How are the others?” Maya asked, holding out Axton’s ECHO device.

“Good,” Axton swallowed, forced himself to look at Maya’s eyes, and took his ECHO.  “It sounds like they’ll be busy for a while though, it really depends on how long the clan war takes.”

Maya nodded and gestured to a small house behind her.  “That house is empty and seeing as the rest of the townsfolk won’t leave their homes, figured we could take it for the night.”

“Sounds good,” Axton stood up and hefted his bag.

He and Maya were friends, Axton told himself.  The two of them led this group together and he would be a damn fool to let anything get between them.  Maya was smart, witty, and merciful.  She was a powerful siren with a mission and helped keep Axton in check when his lust for glory got too much.

Axton looked at his team as a family but without Maya, there wouldn’t be much of them left.  He couldn’t lose her over this.  He couldn’t continue on Pandora without Maya’s teasing or her snorting laughter or the way she got drunk off one bottle of rakk ale.

But, as Axton followed her, he couldn’t help his train of thought go south.

It was no secret that Salvador spent more time sleeping around than at home, or that Axton flirted with half the Crimson Raiders.  There was no hiding the absolute devotion Krieg held for Maya and the softness she carried for him.

As much as Axton cared for the big guy, Krieg’s sanity was tentative at best – hardly the makings of a good bedmate.  Maya deserved that, deserved something good on this hellhole planet.

So why not give it to her?

“So… you and Krieg?”

Smooth, Axton.

Maya snapped her head back at Axton, eyes narrowed suspiciously.  “What about it?”

“He’s just… fond of you,” Axton shrugged.

“That’s putting it lightly,” Maya laughed.  “He’s someone else, underneath the psycho.  Saved my life, you know.  I was ready to kill him and he saved me.  I feel like there’s a connection between us, I just don’t know what it is.”  Maya shook her head and opened the door.  “It doesn’t matter.  We need to help these people.  I’ll wake you up in the morning.”

“What, I can’t get up by myself?”

Maya smirked.  “You haven’t before.”

“Point.”

 

Apparently, everyone in Overlook was dying of a brain disease and, since none of the townsfolk could go out and get the medicine, it was up to Axton and Maya to get it.  Karima, acting head of the town, directed them to three medicine caches through a hologram projected out of her door.

“Must be really bad if you won’t even open the door,” Axton pointed out.

“The skull shivers are a dangerous disease and highly c-contagious,” Karima explained.  “I’m surprised Roland would risk his v-vault hunters to help us.”

“That’s what we’re here to do,” Maya said, pulling up her ECHO and typing in the coordinates.  “It might take us a day or so to get all the medicine, the Hyperion Requisition Officer is just outside the gates to the Outwash, but we’ll get it for you.”

“T-thank you.”

Maya turned to grin at Axton.  “Ready to go?”

“I was born ready, baby,” Axton winked and Maya laughed.

 

It took only six hours to track down the Requisition Officer.  He walked down the road with an entire vending machine on his back and two WAR loaders flanking him.  Maya pulled their runner to the side, dirt showering over them as the car skidded to a stop.

“Looks easy enough,” Axton said, jumping from the turret and hoisting up his rifle.  “Let’s go.”

“Not so fast, hot shot,” Maya gently phaselocked Axton and pulled him back.  She hopped out of the seat and peeked over the hood of the vehicle.  “It looks too easy, don’t you think?”

“When is that ever a bad thing?” Axton asked.  He jumped a little to shake off the static from Maya’s phaselock.  “Let it be easy!  God knows we’ve had enough hard things already.”

Maya grinned wickedly.  “I suppose you are the expert on _hard_ things.”

Axton leaned up against the runner, flashing his most roughish grin.  “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Be serious!” Maya smacked Axton on the thigh but she was still smiling.  “Look, we go down, take down the loaders and then a signal goes up to Hyperion and they send more loaders.”

“We can take them down too,” Axton said.  “You, one of the most powerful sirens on Pandora, and me, ex-Dahl military and incredibly handsome.”

“Sure, charm them to death,” Maya giggled.  “I’m sure the Requisition Officer will just _swoon_ right into your arms.”

“I’ll have you know these arms were made to catch swooning fans,” Axton said, flexing just a little.  “Feel free to try, any time.  I won’t even charge.”

“I think I’ll save that for him,” Maya hefted up her SMG.  “We’d better hurry if we want to get that medicine before the night falls.”  She started from the runner, creeping along in a low crouch with Axton on her heels.  “Unless your charm works better at night.”

Maya stopped behind a rock and Axton pressed himself right next to her.  He bent down and whispered in her ear, “I guess you’ll have to find out.”

Maya snorted and sprinted away.

 

The next medicine cache was supposed to arrive by boat but crashed on the shore of Lake Shining Horizons.  The shores were completely infested with threshers and that spot was a particular favorite for wormhole threshers to breed.

Axton wasn’t looking forward to it.

He and Maya spent the night in a small shack by Blake Bridge.  She had started a fire in the barrel and Axton was currently roasting stalker wings over the flame.  There was one bed pushed in the corner and Maya was sitting on it, book in hand.

The small fire lit up the shack with orange light and cast long shadows on the walls.  It complimented Maya’s blue hair and blue tattoos well, Axton thought.

“What are you reading?” he asked.

“Karma Sutra,” Maya said immediately.

“Liar,” Axton scoffed as he flipped the stalker wings.

“Maybe you should read it,” Maya idly flipped a page, barely glancing at Axton.  “You could learn a thing or two.”

“How about you just teach me instead,” Axton offered.

That got her attention.  Maya tore her gaze from her book and those deep blue eyes bored into his own.  Her lips quirked up.  “You wish.”

Axton’s heart soared.

* * *

Smooth skin beneath his hands.  Slender fingers pulling at his hair.  Axton’s hips rolled against a warm, pliant body and he pressed hot, open mouthed kisses to every bit of skin in front of him.  The skin was soft, tasted of sweat and lightning, and he couldn’t get enough.

His fingers dug into tender flesh and the grip in his hair tightened.  His hips jerked and heat coiled in his gut.  Someone was gasping underneath of him, soft breathy moans that stuttered with each slam of his hips.

“Please, Axton!”

Pulling himself away from this addictive skin, Axton was met with dark blue eyes.  Her blue lipstick was smeared around her mouth and her eyes were hooded with lust.  Her hair stuck to her forehead and neck and her fingernails dug into his shoulders.

“Maya.”

Axton jolted awake.  Disoriented and feeling the onset of his orgasm, he fell out of the bed, hand in his shorts and jerking furiously.  The bedsheets tangled around his legs and he couldn’t catch his breath.

White hot pleasure crashed over him and Axton went limp on the ground, hand down his boxers and twisted in his blankets and sheets.

Slowly, reality came back to him.  He was in Overloook, staying in a spare house after delivering the skull shiver medicine around town.  They would be there for only a few more days before meeting the others back at Sanctuary.

The air was cool on Axton’s body and he shivered.  He slipped out of his shorts with a grimace and wiped his hand on them, throwing them to the side.  He’d burn them later.  The dream still clung to Axton’s mind like dewdrops and he fell back asleep to the thought of blue eyes and blue hair.

* * *

Karima was building a shield for Overlook and Axton thought this would be the last thing, but she asked for him and Maya to stay one more day, just to make sure the town was perfectly safe from Hyperion before they left.

So they stumbled back home.  Zer0 had ECHOed Axton earlier, saying they were nearly done with the clan war in the dust.  The Zaford and Hodunks were gearing up for a final showdown and, after that, they would head back to Sanctuary to meet with them.

This was likely Axton’s last night alone with Maya.

He sauntered into the house, running a hand through his hair.  Maya was sitting on a chair with a book in her hands.

“Karma Sutra, right?” Axton said.

“Not as exciting as it sounds,” Maya flipped the page and gave Axton a small smile.  “Seems more dangerous than pleasurable.”

“This is likely our last night here,” Axton said quickly.  “Just you and me.  Don’t think the citizens here care much what we do.”

Maya glanced up at him.  “And what would we be doing, exactly?”

“You know, some alone time,” Axton said.  “The rest of the team not around…”

Maya’s eyes narrowed.  “We’ve been alone this entire time, Axton.  What are you talking about?”

Time for a different approach.  Axton cleared his throat, “Do you… do you love Krieg?”

“I… I don’t know,” Maya blushed and set her book down.  “I never really thought about it.  I care about him, of course, but I don’t know if it’s love.”  Her eyes snapped to Axton’s and he entranced by her blue gaze.  “Why do you care?”

“I’m sure Krieg is a really nice guy when he isn’t acting all psycho, but that can’t be that good in bed, right?”

“Whatever,” Maya rolled her eyes and stood up.  She stretched and gave an exaggerated yawn, turning towards the staircase.  “We should go to sleep.  Who knows what Karima has cooked up for us tomorrow.”

_(start)_

Axton walked forward until he was right in front of Maya, close enough to reach out and cup her chin in his hand.  Her skin was as soft as he dreamed and he couldn’t help but slide his hand until her cheek was rested against his palm.

“Come with me?” he asked softly.

Her eyes went cold and a pulse of light went up her tattoos.  “Excuse me?”

“Come to bed with me,” Axton repeated and ran his thumb over her cheekbone.  “Just tonight and I swear I won’t tell anyone.  Shit, I won’t even mention it afterwards if you don’t want me to.”

“No,” Maya shook her head and took a step backwards.  “Not interested.”

“Why not?” Axton followed her until her back was against the wall.  Axton leaned over her, using every bit of the two inches he had on her.  God, she was beautiful.  “I’ll be a perfect gentleman, good as Hammerlock.  I’ll treat you right, make you feel good.  I promise.”

“No, Axton.”

“Is it because of Krieg?  I swear, I won’t say anything.”

“No!”

Maybe he needed to show her, prove that he could be just as good as Krieg, hell, he could be _better_ than that.  He could show Maya how she was supposed to be treated, make her scream with pleasure.

Axton dipped down and kissed her.  Her lips were soft and warm and Axton reached out to grab her waist –-

And he was across the room, hovering in the air and surrounded by crackling electricity.  His eyes shot open and locked onto Maya, hand extended, tattoos glowing, and looking mad as hell.

“Don’t you _ever_ touch me like that again,” she growled.  She tightened her fist and Axton felt the air around him compress.  “For _fucks_ sake, Axton, just shut up and listen.”

He nodded meekly.

“I’m not interested because I don’t feel that way, I never have.  Not for Krieg, not for the raiders, not for anyone, and certainly not for you!”

“Maya – ”

“And you _ignored_ me!  You didn’t listen when I said no and you kept going regardless.  I thought I knew what kind of man you were, Axton, but I guess I don’t.”

Nausea welled up in Axton.  He hadn’t even thought of it that way.  He and Maya had been getting along so well, he hadn’t considered this a possibility.  He just assumed all those jokes, those witty remarks and saucy eyes were flirting.

How far would he have gone?  If Maya wasn’t a siren, if she didn’t phaselock him away from her, what would have happened?

“Fuck,” he breathed.

Maya lowered her hand and Axton fell to the ground.  His stomach clenched and Axton heaved, throat constricting as bile built up in the back of his mouth.

“Good night, Axton.”

She walked into the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her.

_(end)_

* * *

Pandora was a beautiful planet but with the sun in the air for 90 hours at a time, it was sometimes hard to gauge when it was “night” time.  According to Axton’s ECHO, it was nearing 2 AM and the sun was still hot in the sky.

His bag was beside him as he sat on the cliffside of Overlook.  He left the house hours ago and his face was starting to burn in the sunlight.  He briefly thought about fast traveling somewhere fucking far away but he couldn’t abandon Karima and her people.

He’d thrown up twice the moment he left the house but Axton’s stomach was still churning.  His hands shook as he played a game on his ECHO to try and distract himself.

It wasn’t helping.

He’d always been a flirt.  It was easy for Axton to find hookups and partners, his rugged good looks and charming smile seduced whomever he wanted.  He flirted with his entire squad at Dahl, slept with most of them, and eventually married Sarah.  After their divorce, Axton fucked his way through Pandora between hunting bounties.

But he never once fucked someone without consent.  He respected boundaries, he waited for the “yes, please, I want this” and avoided drunken one-night stands (sober one-night stands were another thing).

Stupid Axton ignored all those rules for Maya and he didn’t know why.  Why the hell did he push her so much?  Why didn’t he listen when she said no?  Was it because he was lonely and Maya was beautiful?  Was it because he was jealous of Krieg?

Did he want to prove he was still as suave as he remembered?  To help forget about Sarah?

He needed to apologize to Maya, Axton knew that much.  But he didn’t feel like it would be a good apology if he couldn’t explain himself.  A simple _Hey Maya, sorry I almost fucked you against your will_ wouldn’t work.

“FUCK!” Axton shouted and stood up.  He kicked a nearby stone off the cliff.  “Fuck this!  Fuck _me_!”

He punched the building next to him.  He felt his fingers break against the wood and he collapsed onto the ground.  Blood pooled from his hand and dripped onto the dirt.  It didn’t hurt yet, but Axton knew it would soon.

Maya was his friend, before anything else, she was his friend.  He had worked so hard to keep them together, to make a life on Pandora with the other vault hunters, and he ruined it.

“Excuse me?”

Axton flew around, pistol in his unbroken hand.  Standing in front of him was one of the citizens of Overlook, thin as a rail and pale in the sunlight.  His face was gaunt and his clothes ragged, but he was smiling underneath his mop of blonde hair.

“You’re the Vault Hunter helping Karima, aren’t you?” he said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Axton holstered his pistol.  “Me and my friend, Maya.  Who are you?”

“I’m Duncan.  Can I sit?” he gestured to the ground by Axton.

Axton waved and Duncan sat beside him.  Axton cradled his broken hand against his chest, debating on whether or not he should use a Health Now! on it.

“I grew up here,” Duncan said conversationally.  “My parents died from the skull shivers, a couple of years ago actually.  This is the first time I’ve been outside my house.”

Axton turned to Duncan, noticing his freckled cheeks and bright blue eyes.

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“And this is the first time you’ve been outside?”

“Yes, sir.”

“No wonder you look like a ghost.”

Duncan laughed and Axton smiled.

“You said Maya was your friend.  Where is she?”

Axton’s smile died on his face and he turned away.  Nausea crawled up his throat and his stomach heaved.  He could still see Maya’s cold glare and feel the power of her phaselocking on his skin.

“I messed it up,” Axton said softly, swallowing thickly.  “Made a big fucking mistake.”

“Can’t be that bad,” Duncan said.

“You’ve been on Pandora your whole life, right?” Axton asked.  Duncan nodded.  “Even though you’ve never been outside, you know about bandits and psychos, right?”  Duncan nodded again.  “What makes them bad?”

“They’re bad,” Duncan said simply.  “They murder people, steal things, they’ve raided Overlook before Hyperion took over.”

“And they rape people too,” Axton mumbled.

Duncan shrugged, “Yeah, they do.  What’s your point?”

“I kill bandits too,” Axton said.  “I’ve decimated bandit towns, stolen their loot, and never looked back.  Does that make me as bad as them?”

“I don’t think so,” Duncan mused.  “You help people, you helped us.”

“And I’m sure they were helping each other too,” Axton said.  “What makes me any better than a bandit?”

“Those are things you do, you did it because you had to,” Duncan said.  “Bandits kill people, they’d kill you if you didn’t kill them first, it’s part of being here, I guess.  We do bad things but it’s just to survive.”

Duncan had a point – everything that Axton did had been to help Pandora, to help civilian towns and stop Jack.  Isn’t that why he joined the army?  To help people?  And to have towns chanting his name, but still.

“What about raping people?” Axton whispered, his hands shaking.

Duncan, this small, young kid, reached over and put a hand on Axton’s arm, squeezing it comfortingly.  Axton took a deep breath, his lungs shuddering and his eyes burning.  The bag of his belongings seemed a thousand pounds next to him.

“Axton?” Duncan prodded.

“I’m sorry, kid,” Axton said, his voice thick with tears.  He breathed heavily and gave Duncan a wry smile.  “Don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

“Something happened, didn’t it?” Duncan said softly.

Axton nodded.  “Maya and I are friends, were friends, I dunno, kid.  I made a mistake.  I thought… I thought we were on the same page.  I thought she was flirting with me.  I thought it was what she wanted but I never asked.”

“Did you…?”

“No, fuck kid, no,” Axton shook his head.  “I kissed her and, well, she’s a siren.”

Duncan let out a small chuckle.  “She didn’t kill you, though.”

“Heh, that’s true,” Axton wiped his face.  He was still shaking and the nausea was overwhelming but he kept going.  “I still didn’t listen to her.  I don’t… I don’t know what would have happened if she wasn’t a siren.  I want to say I wouldn’t do it, but I don’t know, Duncan.”

“I don’t think you’d do it,” Duncan said.  “The fact that you’re questioning it means you wouldn’t.  You feel guilty about it, don’t you?”

“Of course I feel guilty!” Axton snapped.  “She’s my friend, my partner and I almost took advantage of her.  And the worst part is that I don’t know why!”

“Sometimes we do things we regret,” Duncan said.  “But what matters is what we do afterwards.  You assumed it was going to be okay and it wasn’t so the only thing you can do now is apologize.”

“I just… I feel like an ass,” Axton said.  “I shouldn’t have done it at all and I did.”

“Then apologize and fix it,” Duncan shrugged.

Axton groaned.  If only it were so easy.

* * *

“Maya, I’m sorry.  What I did was unforgivable.  I shouldn’t have assumed anything.  I acted like an asshole and you have every right to hate me forever.”

Axton groaned and slammed his head against the wall.  What a shitty apology.

“I’m sorry,” he tried again.  “I want to live up to your expectations.  I shouldn’t have assumed your feelings or taken advantage of you – ”

Goddammit, that was even worse!

“I’m an idiot!” Axton shouted at the wall.  “I’m stupid and naïve and made a dumb choice!  I assumed and never asked.  I’m no better than a fucking bandit!”

“Now you’re talking sense,” Maya’s voice floated over him.  Axton spun around to her, face flushed.  Maya smiled but her eyes were cold.  “By all means, continue.  You were on your way to such a good apology, don’t let me stop you.”

“Maya,” Axton breathed.  Shame coursed through his body at the sight of her.  “I… I’m sorry.  I know that doesn’t fix what I’ve done, but I’m sorry.  I was a dick.  I assumed something I shouldn’t have.  I never – I’ve never taken advantage of anyone.  Not even when I was drunk.

“But you… I don’t know, Maya.  I thought – I thought you were my match.  We lead this group together, you and I, side by side.  And I assumed you were flirting back with me when you were just being friendly.  I should have asked, I should have waited.  You have – you have _every_ right to hate me.”

He looked at Maya’s eyes, bright blue against her pale skin.  They seemed to have softened slightly as Axton bumbled his way through an apology.

“I know I can never ask for your forgiveness,” Axton bowed his head.  “I hardly deserve it.  What I did was unforgivable, Maya.  I know that much.  I’m no better than a bandit.”

“You’re right,” Maya said.  “It was unforgivable.  However, Axton, I believe in you.  You may never earn my forgiveness, but you may start your road to redemption.  Besides,” Maya gave Axton a faint smile.  “Krieg will kill you if you try anything like that again.”

“God, don’t remind me,” Axton groaned.  “He can get in line.  Right behind myself but before Gaige.  I… Maya, even if you find it in your heart to forgive me, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself.”

 

Back in Sanctuary, Axton climbed up to the roof of HQ.  Maya was collecting the bounty from Scooter for saving Overlook and the others were heading back from the Dust soon.  But Axton couldn’t bear to be with them.

He didn’t deserve the luxury of having friends – not after what he did.  No better than a fucking bandit.

It was hours later when Gaige and the other showed up through the Fast Travel Station.  On the roof, Axton watched them run down the streets, celebrating a successful mission together.  They looked so happy, so carefree, unknowing of Axton’s failure.

Maya met them halfway through the streets, allowing Krieg to swallow her up in a massive hug.  Axton smiled fondly.  They _were_ rather cute together.  She seemed to soften around him, which was nothing compared to how gentle Krieg acted near her.

God, he was such a fool.  He should just leave the Raiders and go be a goddamn bandit since apparently that was all he was good for.  Another murdering, evil bandit.

From the streets, Salvador looked up and waved.  Axton could only offer a half wave back before continuing his sulking.  Salvador said something to the group before climbing up the side of the building.

“What happened, amigo?” Salvador asked, huffing as he sat down beside Axton on the roof.  “Gaige said you and Maya were getting pretty cozy.”

“It was nothing,” Axton muttered.  “It was stupid.  I made a mistake.”

“You know she doesn’t like sex, right?” Salvador said.  “And she’s only ever had a fondness for Krieg.”

“I know that now!” Axton exclaimed.  “But we were chatting and I thought she was flirting with me but she wasn’t and I assumed she was interested and – ”

“You didn’t!”

“Why the hell do people keep assuming that?!”

“You mean you didn’t?”

“Sal, she’s a fucking siren,” Axton said.  “She can melt me with her brain.  Did you really think anything happened?”

Salvador chuckled.  “I’m surprised you are still alive!”

“I should be dead, Sal.  If she won’t kill me, then I guess I’ll have to do it myself.”

“You don’t meant that,” Salvador punched Axton in the shoulder.  “Right?”

“I’m no better than a bandit, Salvador,” Axton said.  “Even your long list of charges doesn’t include rape.”

“You didn’t rape her though,” Salvador insisted.  “You made a wrong assumption, but you know you did wrong.  I’ve seen a lot of bandits in my time and I’ve never met one who felt guilty.  Let alone one who wanted to make amends.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Axton sighed.  “As long as I live, Sal, I don’t think I’ll ever earn her forgiveness.  But I want to change.  I want to be better.  I want to be the man she saw in me.”

Salvador clapped his hand on Axton’s shoulder.  “That is a worthy goal, amigo.”


End file.
